Whale apparently hunted with .50 caliber firearm

Steve Johnson
by Steve Johnson

The Associated Press is reporting that an injured whale was recovered yesterday after being shot with a .50 caliber firearm. It is important to remember that the Associated Press have demonstrated little understanding of firearms in the past.

They have claimed that the whale was shot with a “.50-caliber machine gun”. I would be impressed if they can tell the difference between a .50BMG rifle (if it was in fact .50BMG and not another .50 caliber cartridge) and a .50BMG machine gun. Or if they even know the difference between a machine gun and a rifle.

However, I do find it interesting that the Makah Tribe, who are legally allowed to hunt whales, use .50 caliber rifles. I guess they may be used when a harpoon has not killed a whale and they are not able to take another shot with the it.

More here.

UPDATE: Some tribesman are being held by the Coast Guard, but not charged, over the incident. More here.

Steve Johnson
Steve Johnson

I founded TFB in 2007 and over 10 years worked tirelessly, with the help of my team, to build it up into the largest gun blog online. I retired as Editor in Chief in 2017. During my decade at TFB I was fortunate to work with the most amazing talented writers and genuinely good people!

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